Nine CRPF men killed in Naxal IED blast in India

by News Desk

NEW DELHI (The Statesman/ANN) - ​At least nine CRPF personnel died as an IED blast triggered by Naxals blew up their mine-protected vehicle in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, officials said on Tuesday.

According to initial reports, another six personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been injured while three of them are in critical condition.

The blast occurred when the team was patrolling inside a forest in Kistaram area of Sukma, around 500 kms from capital Raipur.

The Director General (DG) of CRPF has rushed to the spot of the attack, reports said.

Soon after the incident, reinforcement was rushed to the spot.

This is the first major attack on CRPF after almost a year as in April 2017, armed Maoist guerillas ambushed and killed 25 CRPF men who were patrolling a road-building project in Sukma.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the Sukma Naxal attack “deeply distressing” as he bowed to the martyrs who lost their lives while “serving the nation”.

“Today’s IED blast in Sukma, Chhattisgarh is deeply distressing. I bow to each and every security personnel who attained martyrdom while serving the nation,” Rajnath tweeted.

“My heartfelt condolences to the families of the personnel who lost their lives in Sukma blast. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured jawans. I spoke to DG @crpfindia regarding the Sukma incident and asked him to leave for Chhattisgarh,” he said.